Association Between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Neonatal SCG5 DNA Methylation-Effect Modification by Prenatal Home Visiting

Abstract

Maternal childhood adversity and trauma may elicit biological changes that impact the next generation through epigenetic responses measured in DNA methylation (DNAm). These epigenetic associations could be modified by the early postnatal environment through protective factors, such as early childhood home visiting (HV) programs that aim to mitigate deleterious intergenerational effects of adversity. In a cohort of 53 mother-child pairs recruited in 2015-2016 for the Pregnancy and Infant Development Study (Cincinnati, Ohio), we examined the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and neonatal DNAm in the secretogranin V gene (SCG5), which is important in neuroendocrine function. We examined prenatal HV as an effect modifier. Mothers completed a questionnaire on ACEs during pregnancy, and infant buccal samples were collected 1 month postpartum. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association between maternal ACEs and neonatal DNAm expressed as M-values averaged across 4 cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotide sites. A higher number of maternal ACEs (>3) was associated with a 5.79-percentage-point lower offspring DNAm (95% confidence interval: -10.44, -1.14), and the association was modified by the number of home visits received during pregnancy. In a population of at-risk mother-child dyads, preliminary evidence suggests that maternal ACEs have a relationship with offspring SCG5 DNAm that differs by the amount of prenatal HV.

Keywords: DNA methylation; SCG5; adverse childhood experiences; home visiting; secretogranin V gene.

Figure 1

Directed acyclic graph representing the hypothesized causal relationship between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and infant DNA methylation (DNAm). SCG5, secretogranin V gene.

Figure 2

Association between maternal exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and offspring SCG5 DNA methylation, according to amount of prenatal home visiting (≥10 visits vs. <10 visits), PRIDE study, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2015–2016. The lines represent differences in mean M-values by maternal ACE exposure level and the amount of prenatal home visiting received. PRIDE, Pregnancy and Infant Development; SCG5, secretogranin V gene.